Before you go through all the work, expense, and time that it takes to submit a spousal sponsorship application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), it is important to make sure of two things. First, you must be eligible to sponsor your spouse. Second, your spouse and your spouse’s dependents must be admissible to Canada.

IRCC will process the spousal sponsorship application in two stages. Their first stage assessment is whether the Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident sponsoring spouse is eligible to sponsor. Legally, there are certain things that can bar you from sponsoring (see below).

If IRCC decides the sponsor is eligible, then IRCC turns its attention to whether the person being sponsored (the Principal Applicant) is admissible to Canada and whether it is a bad faith relationship (it cannot be entered into for immigration purposes AND it must be a genuine relationship under Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) regulation 4).1

Because it often takes months to get a first-stage decision on eligibility and many more months to get a second-stage decision on admissibility and genuineness, it is essential that you check that your application has a chance of success before you file it.

Are you eligible to sponsor your spouse or common-law partner?

There are certain sponsorship bars under the IRPR. Please check IRCC’s website here for further details on their interpretation of the sponsorship bars:

Bars to Spousal Sponsorship

Important eligibility considerations for the sponsor include, among other things:

whether you are a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident living in Canada,
not subject to a removal order,
over 18 years of age,
having legal capacity to marry,
having a finalized divorce if previously married,
you have been a Canadian Citizen or PR for more than 5 years if you were yourself sponsored as a spouse then divorced and are now sponsoring someone else,
no prior undertakings that are still in effect,
not receiving social assistance unless you have a disability,
not in bankruptcy,
no failure to repay certain debts,
not detained in jail or prison,
no criminal convictions for certain types of crimes against relatives or any sexual offense inside or outside of Canada; and
proof that you can provide financially for your spouse and dependents.

There are a number of details to discuss if any of these bars might apply in your situation. Please make sure to consult with an immigration lawyer.

If none of the sponsorship bars apply and you are eligible to sponsor your spouse, the next thing you need to prove is that the person you are sponsoring to Canada (the Principal Applicant) and their dependents (if any) are admissible to Canada.

Is your spouse (and their dependents, if any) admissible to Canada?

IRCC has further information on their website about assessing admissibility in sponsorships:

Spousal Sponsorship - Admissibility in Canada

Important considerations for the Principal Applicant (person being sponsored) and their children include, among other things, whether they are admissible to Canada:

can they establish their identity (valid passport, birth certificate),
no criminal charges, detention or convictions (or they have discussed criminal rehabilitation or an application for a Temporary Resident Permit with a lawyer ahead of time),
having legal capacity to marry,
establishing the relationship (registered marriage certificate, additional documentary proof of relationship),
having a finalized divorce if previously married,
proof of family court order regarding children from prior relationships and consent from their ex to allow the children to apply for Permanent Residency to Canada with them,
if they have children from previous relationships, they must undergo immigration medical exams and, if they are over the age of 18, must also get Police Certificates,
no misrepresentation,
no prior refusals on spousal sponsorships,
no medical inadmissibility under danger to public health or safety, and
no other grounds of inadmissibility.

Note that the considerations around the admissibility of the people being sponsored are not the same as the bars to eligibility for the Canadian sponsor. In some cases, like establishing an identity or relationship, it is possible to provide strong supporting evidence. In some cases, it is also possible to wait to file the spousal sponsorship until your spouse completes key steps (like obtaining a final divorce order if previously married or obtaining permission for children from a previous relationship to be sponsored for Canadian Permanent Residency). In other cases, such as a finding of previous misrepresentation, it could indeed prevent you from sponsoring your spouse for 5 years.

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